Jefferson Starship At The Red Dog Saloon

An incredible evening with Jefferson Starship at the Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City. What is Jefferson Starship like on tour in 2010? I will tell you all, but first, for those of you dear readers who do not know this Battle Born State, a word about Virginia City – forget Bonanza. Virginia City was never a cow town with broad dusty streets. It was a mountain top mining town -- the center of the Comstock Lode named for the successful speculator Henry T. Pancake Comstock who struck it rich in 1859, sold his claim, invested in stores in Carson and Silver City, purchased a Mormon wife who ran away, then prospected unsuccessfully in Idaho and Montana where he killed himself in 1870 – no relation to John Henry Comstock, the noted entomologist. For the truth – using the word in a loose literary sense – about Virginia City, better to consult their premier journalist, Mark Twain.

The Red Dog Saloon, an intimate setting along Virginia City’s wooden sidewalks, was filled with boomers tonight. It was the 60+ crowd out in force to hear our old music. A few young folks showed up out of respect I guess. But we were mostly a collection of people who had lived through the Viet Nam era and everything since – it showed on us I must admit.

After the opening act, Jefferson Starship took the small stage. Paul Kantner, David Krieberg, and Chris Smits – 3 old guys who still love their music, playing it now with a seasoned passion. Marty Balin was not around. And of course Gracie Slick has been gone from Starship since 1988 – and lest I go overboard let me acknowledge there is only one Gracie Slick – a pioneer rock singer who was once arrested for attempting to spike Richard Nixon’s punch with LSD. Awful of course, but you had to be there or at least be then. She was one of a kind and is now a painter in New York City.

Instead of Balin and Slick, the old guys were joined by an angular young woman named Cathy Richardson who could have been their granddaughter. But she was a bona fide super star. She wore a sun dress under a black hooded sweater which she put to remarkable use. It wasn’t just the powerful brassy voice that was nothing less than Grace Slick quality; she was a performer in the 1967 sense of the word. She shot her fist up toward the ceiling, sliced the air with her hands, fell to her knees, clapped, stomped, pounded the stage with the mike stand exuding a blend of passions born of that mad era of hope, anger, and desperate aspiration. At one point she turned away, pulled her hood over her head transforming her blondness into an eerie witchy darkness, then turned on us with a rendition of White Rabbit that chilled the blood at “Just ask Alice, when she’s 10 feet tall.” In the second set, she hammered us with Somebody to Love – an existential admonition to human connection.

The closing song of the encore took a surprising thematic turn for the top band of psychedelic rock. It was a medley of Songs of Freedom, Redemption Song, and Imagine. The lyrics of John Lennon’s atheist anthem were woven into the lyrics of Bob Marley, blended into a proclamation of faith in transcendent deliverance and an invitation to live boldly in the face of all the menaces to freedom, happiness, and life itself. John Lennon no doubt turned over in his grave, but I loved it.

All this on a Friday night in the Red Dog Saloon of Virginia City. I cannot believe this life I have been given.

Walker Lake, Resilience In Reno, & How To Be The Church

On Monday, Walker Lake was perfectly still, reflecting the mountains and sky the way a serene soul reflects Christ. We were driving past Walker Lake after having flown from Reno to Las Vegas at the crack of dawn to load up our car with the rest of our belongings destined for Sparks. It was surreal, going to bed in Sparks two nights in a row, but with a plane flight and a long drive in between. That’s what I do with a day off. :-)

It had been a good Sunday at Trinity, Reno – a flagship congregation that has been through a lot of change and disruption these past few years. I was impressed by their resiliency and the energy in the room – the lay and ordained leadership and the people in the pews. They sang the hymns, said the responses – worshiped right out loud. Of course, they have the cutest family service anywhere. Then the principle service was blessed with a first class choir that is not too stuffy to get down as we said in the 70’s – I’m not sure what we say now – but they do it.

Saturday had been another Roving Workshop at St. Paul’s, Sparks on Orders of Ministry. Many Nevada Episcopalians have the notion that there are two diametrically opposed models for how to be the church and we are torn between them. I hope these workshops can help us recognize two things: 1. Neither of those models actually exists anywhere in our diocese today. 2. Neither of those models fits the ancient or contemporary Church’s understanding of our shape, our mission, or the nature of God.

I hope one basic insight will emerge from those two facts: A few general principles make up a broad outline of how to be the church. It is a deep and ancient wisdom – but the way the general principles are lived out in each local community is up to that community. Congregations have the freedom to be creative, innovative, and adaptive. We are here to connect people with Jesus “by any means necessary.” These workshops do not say“this is the way to do it” but rather "these are the resources you can use as you find your way."

Holy Trinity -- A Church On The Move

It was good to be back at Holy Trinity, Fallon today. The first thing you notice is the new sign which boldly welcomes people to worship and fellowship. The second thing is that the Holy Trinity congregation worships with energy. They sing the hymns with gusto, not dragging. They say the responses briskly. They are alert and engaged in prayer.

The next thing you notice is the pictures on the wall in the Parish Hall. Someone values these folks enough to photograph them and display their pictures with their names so people can get to know each other.

These first impressions of a healthy congregation are born out on deeper inspection. This is the first congregation in Nevada to identify someone to be trained as a lay evangelist. They offer a Bible Study, a divorce recovery seminar, a book group, a healing service, a mid-week Eucharist, private anointing for healing after the Sunday morning service, etc. They have 8 folks in the congregation trained as preachers, plus worship leaders and eucharisitic visitors.

Their challenge these days is that their Parish Hall needs to be replaced. Needless to say that is at once painful and exciting -- painful because it means tearing down the building where many special memories were made -- exciting because it promises a better space for fellowship, education, and community events in years to come.

As always, a visit to Fallon encourages me about our present and our future.